Dear friends,
As we prepare to ring in 2020, we wanted to reflect on 2019—a landmark year for The Violence Project. Here are just a few highlights:
- We launched the largest, most comprehensive database of mass shooters in the United States to the public on our new website, https://www.theviolenceproject.org, which has received over 22,000 site visits since November. The full database has been downloaded over 1,000 times by journalists, graduate students, researchers, and others interested in using research and analysis to understand and prevent mass shootings.
- We rolled out a “revolutionary” approach to school safety and launched our first certification training in mass shooting prevention (tickets are still available for January 17).
- We published a dozen essays and op-eds, including a series in the Los Angeles Times, and entries in Education Week, The Conversation, Star Tribune, USA Today, and The Washington Post. One LA Times op-ed went viral, gaining over 1 million clicks in a week.
- We made national television appearances on CBS This Morning, CNN Tonight with Don Lemon, and Fox News’ America’s Newsroom; talked on podcasts and local and national public radio; and featured in over 150 media articles, from the Associated Press to The New York Times.
- We presented research at the International Association of Chiefs of Police in Chicago and the American Society of Criminology in San Francisco. We also keynoted or spoke at more than 25 other conferences and community events across the country.
- Our R-Model crisis intervention, de-escalation training for law enforcement was published in the peer-reviewed, Police Journal after the evaluation found a 23% drop in crisis calls for service at our test site.
The Violence Project is only just getting started. 2020 will bring more research and outreach, more innovation and improvement. Thank you all for your continued interest and support. Together, we can reduce violence in society and change the policy and practice landscape for the better.
Wishing you a very happy and healthy New Year.
Sincerely,
Jillian Peterson and James Densley